Raise-a-Reader: Literacy binds small northern B.C. town together

Trudy Ewing takes learning to the doorsteps of kids in Atlin

Each child participating in the literacy program run from Trudy’s Ewing’s van in Atlin, B.C. gets a $50 certificate to buy books, courtesy of Raise-a-Reader.

Living in the remote B.C. community of Atlin, in 2013, Trudy Ewing is about as far from ancient Arabia as you can get.

To get to her sparsely populated village of around 500 residents, you have to head into Yukon, then drive two hours from Whitehorse.

Yet the program coordinator for Literacy Now, who has a love of ancient history, might well have adopted the famous proverb: “If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.”

If the people around Atlin can’t come to the literacy program, then the program must go to them.

So Ewing has outfitted a van with books, music and musical instruments so she can bring literacy to the people: many kids can’t get into town to attend literacy programs, especially those from a native community five miles away.

So Ewing started a literacy-on-wheels project, which gets help from The Vancouver Sun’s Raise-a-Reader program.

Now a largely forgotten dot on the map, Atlin was once a boom town with a population of about 10,000 drawn here by the gold rush of 1898. Now, you are lucky if you can find 300 hearty souls there in the winter.

Literacy has become the stitch that is binding this community together.

Kids’ eyes light up when they see her approaching in her van with the yellow magnetic sign that reads “Layers of Learning.”

While the CDs, musical instruments and books inside denote fun, there is purpose and a message behind this mobile classroom.

And that message? There is always a right time to read.

“What happens over the summer is kids tend to lose their reading skills so that when they go back to school, it’s a review for the first month,” said Ewing in a phone interview. “We’re wanting them to maintain their reading levels throughout the summer.”

She is particularly grateful to the teachers in the local elementary school who give her an information package at the end of the school year for each child, so she is able to zero in on their needs. And Ewing is always on the alert for those who have fallen behind, or fallen through the cracks altogether.

In a community like Atlin, which is known as the little Switzerland of the north, Ewing believes literacy must be tackled with imagination, using a variety of approaches.

This summer, after discovering many of the teenage girls in the community had never heard of Anne of Green Gables, Ewing launched an “introducing the classics” initiative. She invited girls between the ages of five and 12 to the teen centre for a pyjama party where the girls had to cook their own meal, set the table and clean up afterward. As Ewing explained, sometimes literacy goals are paired with other goals like learning life skills.

The group then watched part one of the movie Anne of Green Gables. The experience sparked all sorts of discussion. “It was really brought into their own lives.”

Afterward, each child received a copy of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic book with the hope that the movie would motivate them to read it.

The group will meet again in September for a second pyjama party, where they will discuss the book before watching the second part of the movie.

Ewing believes literacy isn’t just about words on paper.

“It’s the heartbeat of communities. It’s what allows us to relate to one another in a positive way. Literacy is what binds us together. It’s like the cement for relationships, and it brings growth in knowledge and information and with all that knowledge comes wisdom.”

Ewing, who is an early childhood educator, has learned to tap into the community to build this broad base of learning.

For example, a gifted photographer in the community was enlisted to teach a basic photography workshop for teenagers.

Each participant was equipped with a camera and sent out to photograph nature as they saw it. When they returned, the instructor went through their pictures and selected the best five from each one. The group then hosted an art gala, where people got to ask the budding photographers about their work.

“I’ve never seen a community like this for supporting causes,” said Ewing. “They are just phenomenal.”

Ewing said the participating teens developed communication skills and self-esteem.

“They just blew us out of the water,” said Ewing. “It was a real leap in their social lives.”

At the end, the photographs were auctioned, with $1,400 raised for literacy causes in the community.

Each child participating in the literacy program run from Ewing’s van gets a $50 certificate, courtesy of Raise-a-Reader, that allows them to go to a bookstore in Whitehorse and choose their own books.

Three children who have excelled beyond expectations have each received a $75 certificate. One family with three children received $175.

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